1965 Dodge Dart 270 Wagon

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I ordered a bunch of replacement lights with a bit of guidance from SlantSixDan. They all arrived yesterday. I haven't got to dropping the tank yet because my efforts to clean up the gauge cluster were a bit more then I planned for and I needed a break on Sunday.

I built a small regulator circuit based on the 7805 chip from radio shack. It's not as complete as I'd like because I wasn't paying attention and when I grabbed 5v zener diodes from the correctly labeled parts bin I got home to find that I had a package of 12v diodes. No short-circuit protection for me. I used some conductive glue I had laying around to connect the 7805 to a small heatsink, but haven't decided where to anchor it on the gauge housing yet. It turns out my stock regulator appeared to be working fine when tested, but this will prevent me dealing with it later down the line. The frustrating thing is that the regulator measuring fine means that I really do have a full tank of gas and there is some other reason my temp gauge is reading high all the time (at least in theory.)After scrubbing the gauges I determined that I will definitely need to paint it, but I don't have the inclination to deal with it now because I need to get more functional issues dealt with. So I cleaned everything as well as I could with warm soapy water, the actual gauges got a light scrubbing with baking soda and vinegar, and I put it all back together and into the car.

I ordered a gas cap last night. There is a locking one on it right now that doesn't seal right and I don't have a key for. Any thoughts on removing it? It's pretty loose and I've tried to just work it back and forth, but it's hanging on somewhere inside. I could drill the center out, but I'm worried about getting metal shavings in the gas line. I will be swapping the tank, but anything in the fill tube could cause a problem.

I washed up the light lenses and housings last night. On the way home I will grab some chrome paint for inside the housings. I used some high gloss enamel on the front parking/turn signal lenses and they look 100% better. I didn't take any pictures, but I will do some before and after when I do the tail lights. I will use some spraymax 2k clear for those since they will get more sun exposure. These old lenses are very dull and worn looking even after a good cleaning. The gloss really restores that new factory shine.
 
Alright. So today I decided to go ahead and put in a mini starter. Taking the old one out was a huge pain, but it's done and hopefully I won't have to deal with that again any time soon.

I hadn't mentioned that the car wasn't starting over the weekend. I'm pretty sure I need to go ahead and replace the battery. I got the new starter in and had enough charge in the battery to get it running. Here's what I learned:

1. The old voltage regulator for the dash was clearly bad, despite my bench test indicating otherwise.

2. My gas tank is almost empty which means putting in the new one won't be as bad as I thought. Hooray for small victories!

3. My car is not constantly running hot! Well, we'll see for sure once I get it to where I can drive it around a bit.

With it being dark out I was able to get a good look at the now cleaned up gauges. I also replaced burnt out bulbs when I had it out. I would've replaced them all, but the parts store only had 4 bulbs out of the 7 I needed. :( In either case they look way better and I am actually able to read them in the dark with the dash lights now!

That's about it. I grabbed some chrome paint for the light housings from the parts store when I picked up the starter. Way too late and tired to deal with that now. Hopefully tomorrow. I've also been talking with slantsixdan some more and I think I'm going to swap the tailgate lights out. I'll be putting some 1157 dual filament LEDs and wiring them so that the tailgate lights give me both running lights and brake lights. I just have to find an 1157 socket that gets the light source into the right spot. The sockets in the outer lights hold the filament 1/4" higher than the factory 1095 sockets for the tailgate.
 
Here's a picture of the mess I'm working with under the hood. Hopefully I'll get to the nearby self-wash stalls and get it all rinsed down on Monday. I'll never track down any leaking fluids in this.

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And here's a quick shot of the gauges inside after I clean them last week. They were so filthy that I couldn't even read them before. Everything in the dash is filthy because my grandma smoked int it for the better part of 50 years. I pulled the radio last night to start cleaning it up. It looks like getting it torn down enough to get the potentiometers for the knobs cleaned or replaced will require de-soldering some things.

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Thanks. I'm trying to get at least something done every week. Last week was pretty slow. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do to clean up the internals of the radio. I really don't feel like tearing the whole thing apart right now.

I almost have all the parts ready to go for my front disc conversion, but I need to get a few other things done first. My choke doesn't move on it's own at all and is stiff to move by hand with absolutely no snap back. I'm going to try and clean it up in place a bit, but I think a full rebuild is going to be in order to replace the linkages and get the choke working properly. I really have no idea what I'm doing on that front so I'll have to see what I can find in the manual.

The other big thing I need to sort out is my steering. I can move the wheel about 45 degrees before I get any resistance with the wheels on the ground. I haven't checked it with the car up on stands, but I think I'm going to need to either rebuild my steering box or order a replacement. I'd really like to eliminate the power steering pump and move to an electric unit. I've read a good bit about people using the units from a Saturn Vue with a controller available online for other projects. I haven't come across any A-Body specific information,but I haven't looked very hard yet.

I also need to get something done to prevent any more rust development before heading into winter. Most of what I have are just small spots that I can deal with, but the drivers door has a couple spots that go all the way through. Any recommendations?
 
These early-a's don't need power steering in my opinion. With some new steering and suspension parts, a quicker ratio like 20:1 and a swaybar, these little car are very fun to drive. Probably take off 40lbs. from the front of the car by going to manual steering too.
 
Commando66 said:
These early-a's don't need power steering in my opinion. With some new steering and suspension parts, a quicker ratio like 20:1 and a swaybar, these little car are very fun to drive. Probably take off 40lbs. from the front of the car by going to manual steering too.
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I've been considering that option as well. If that's the direction I wanted to go do I just order a manual box from the guys over at firmfeel and it's a drop in? Do I need to swap anything else? Does anybody else offer a 20:1 box or rebuild kit? Looks like a 2 week lead time and a pretty hefty investment to go that route.
 
To swap to a manual box you'll need either the adapter (I think Firm Feel has them) or swap your steering shaft to the long manual shaft
 
Long time with no updates. I haven't been able to get as much done as I'd like since we've been dealing with some issues around the house. I have done a few things though. I'm going to post a quick list just for my own record keeping and in case anyone else is interested.

1. I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but I was leaking fuel from the fuel pump so I replaced it with a new one from the local parts store.
2. After replacing the fuel pump I was getting tons of overflow on the carburetor. I decided to rebuild the carburetor. Everything inside was pretty solid, so maybe I didn't really need to do it, but it's done now so that's that. During the rebuild I found a significant defect/grind in the edge of the float bowl casting. After asking for recommendations I got some JB Weld Steel Stik and leveled it off before reassembly. I'm very happy with how it turned out. As mentioned before the choke was completely bound up before. I got everything cleaned up and adjusted to factory spec, but no matter how much I leaned out my mixture screws I just wasn't getting enough air into the carburetor at idle. I had to adjust the vacuum pull-off to open way beyond spec before things evened out. I also had to adjust the floats a bit lower than the 1/4" I found in the carburetor manual to prevent overflow which was causing a terribly rich burn.
3. Ignition Upgrades - I ordered and installed a Pertronix Ignitor III with a matching Pertronix Flamethrower Coil. Of course this meant I needed some new spiral core plug wires so I went with Moroso Blues. So far I am happy with the setup, although if I'm honest I don't have the experience to really know any better. I also dropped in some NGK GR4 plugs while I was at it.
4. Ignition Timing - This has been the trickiest bit for me. I've checked the online diagrams for plug wire placement on the distributor and attempted to follow what I found. It didn't match the original placement from when I picked up the car which seemed odd. No dice. When I went that route I couldn't get the engine to fire over. I moved the plug wires two positions clockwise where they had been originally and got everything running. I know it was probably stupid to switch them in the first place. After all of the upgrades and some adjustment with a timing light (I had to advance the timing a ton with the altitude here) the engine was running stronger than it had yet. I was able to drive it to work (~18 miles at highway speeds) a few days. That weekend I pulled the plugs to check things out and my even numbered plugs were all black and wet as if they were burning too rich, or maybe not at all. Ugh. I've double checked the rotor position compared to TDC on the balancer and adjusted the plug wire position again and advanced the timing just a touch more. I checked the even plugs yesterday and don't seem to have anymore fouling(fowling?), but I need to check all the plugs this weekend. Idle seems solid, but with a slight occasional stumble. I'm not sure if I need to check valve lash or if I just need to put a little more fuel into the mix on one side of the carburetor. I've followed carb tuning guides from AllPar, the Chrysler Master Tech Videos, and the service manual and I think I've got it about as good as I can without having an O2 sensor. That FiTech throttle body is looking better everyday!
5. New valve cover gaskets, stripped paint on valve covers and Air Cleaner Assembly. Hopefully I'll get a warm enough weekend to paint them sometime during the winter. Either way the bare aluminum is an upgrade from the peeling black paint in my previous picture.

ToDo: High priority items right now are Suspension and Steering.
Steering: I was able to make a small adjustment to the power steering and it is better, but not terrific. I read an article about "pumping down" the power steering, but it seems to only apply to the Saginaw power steering pumps. I do not have a saginaw. Anybody know of a way to reduce pressure on a federal (I think) power steering pump? Can I just buy a rebuilt saginaw for ~$70 and use that? I feel like I might be happy enough for now with that combination instead of going through the hassle and cost of replacing the whole thing with the manual fast ratio from FirmFeel, although that will probably be the long term goal.

Suspension: The whole car sways like a rope bridge in a windstorm. Every small bump jumps the backend like I have no suspension. Any advice is welcome, but here are my thoughts so far. It sounds like everyone who has gone with cheaper shocks/struts eventually ends up spending the money on Bilsteins, so I figured I'd just jump straight to them. Is there any recommendation for where to buy these besides FirmFeel? It would seem like a good idea to replace the 50+ year old leaf springs. They seem relatively cheap. Is there something specific I need to look for or any concerns I need to think about for installing new springs? Do you know of any guides for adjusting the torsion bars that are dummy proof? I would imagine there's a lot of improvement to be had there with just a bit of time invested.

As always thanks for following and especially all the helpful tips!
 
So it's been an expensive week! I ordered a full set of Bilsteins, PST 1.03" Torsion Bars, and a FirmFeel Stage 3 Power Steering Box. Next I need to figure out which leaf springs to order. From reading through the forums I think I've narrowed it down to either Springs'n'Things or JR Springs. I don't need anything fancy, just something that will match well with everything else, handle well, and keep me somewhere near stock ride height. Hopefully I'll be all set for decent winter handling in a few weeks.

In the meantime either my starter relay or the Neutral Safety switch went out, so I'll be trouble shooting that this weekend along with determining whether I have all of the pieces for the heater box or if my dad lost anything when he started tearing into it.
 
Swaybar (s)! New springs, torsion bars and shocks will help but these cars come to life with a big front swaybar and a rear bar too.
 
Commando66 said:
Swaybar (s)! New springs, torsion bars and shocks will help but these cars come to life with a big front swaybar and a rear bar too.
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Are you in my head? I've almost pulled the trigger on some sway bars about 5 times this week, but I'm not sure which to go with. I'm leaning towards the addco bars from summit since they are a bit cheaper and I keep buying expensive things. :D
 
This weekend I received my Tech Service Manual (yeah I know I can use a digital one for free, but I wanted a hard copy). I also received a set of random rubber bump stops I ordered. Now my hood release has enough resistance to pop even in the cold! I just need to figure out where all of the random small ones actually go. I wasn't sure if I was going to replace all of them, but when I started pulling off the old ones and they were falling apart in my hands that answered the question.

Fall has finally arrived and the low temperatures need to be addressed. My heater core has been bypassed since I first got the car running. The old one sprung a leak at some point (probably why the passenger floor pan is nice and rusty). When my dad had the car this was the only high priority issue. He got a new heater core and pulled apart the heater box to get at it. That's it though... The old core wasn't fully removed and nothing was actually replaced. I took some time this weekend to remove the whole box. I scrubbed it down with some degreaser and gave it a thorough rinse. The fresh air door was pulled off and I'm still looking for the bracket. In the meantime I ordered a heater box seal kit from Detroit Muscle technologies. Hoping for some expedited shipping I called on the phone and the woman I dealt with was terrific. She said she would get the kit and drop it in the mail herself yesterday. She also offered to send it USPS priority instead of standard first class without charging me the difference. Terrific customer service! During the removal process the section of the heater box between where the pipes for the heater core pass through got broken. All of the fiberglass is still there and I was able to push it back into place, but it seems like I should reinforce it. I'm trying to decide between just sanding it and brushing a fresh layer of resin over it or cutting that section out and rebuilding it either with fiberglass or steel stik. My duct tubes are dry and cracked as well, so those will get replaced too.

So because I'm impulsive I jumped on an Edelbrock D4B intake from a forum member. Now I guess I'll need a new carburetor. I 'll need to find something used and keep the cost low because I'm still not sure if I'm going to keep the carburetor or eventually purchase a FiTech setup. I don't have any big performance goals, but if I can get a little more air into the engine to make up for the high altitude that would sure be nice.

Waiting for all the parts I've got ordered makes me feel like this week is Christmas instead of Thanksgiving.
 
Don't buy Addco! Their brackets suck! I've used Firm Feel on 3 cars and their parts work! I haven't tried Hellwig but other people like them. I've got a Firm Feel rear that I didn't use if you're interested.
 
I've got the Hellwig 1 & 1/8 (?) hollow front sway bar and a factory 5/8th (?) 76 police A Body rear sway bar that will be installed eventually to the wagon.
 
Commando66 said:
Don't buy Addco! Their brackets suck! I've used Firm Feel on 3 cars and their parts work! I haven't tried Hellwig but other people like them. I've got a Firm Feel rear that I didn't use if you're interested.
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I saw a few threads where people seemed to like them alright. Are the brackets really so bad that it's worth spending an extra $50-$150 per bar? I looked at the FirmFeel bars first since I'm getting my steering box from them, but ~$350/bar is pretty steep.

65 Dartman said:
I've got the Hellwig 1 & 1/8 (?) hollow front sway bar and a factory 5/8th (?) 76 police A Body rear sway bar that will be installed eventually to the wagon.
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Sounds like a decent plan. The Hellwig is definitely a better priced option than FirmFeel, though I admit I don't know enough about these things to really judge the value difference between the two. PST also seems to have a reasonable price for the GMax bars and 10% off for Thanksgiving weekend brings it closer to the price of the Addco bars. I might have to look into the factory police rear bar. Seems like a good option to save a bit on the budget.

davescuda said:
Very cool wagon, good luck with it.
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Thanks Dave!
 
mammlouk said:
I might have to look into the factory police rear bar. Seems like a good option to save a bit on the budget.

!
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The factory A Body rear sway bar is going to be used, if you can find one. Not quite as scarce as hen's teeth or unobtanium, but almost! An aftermarket rear bar will be the way to go.
 
And now I have a slightly modified HiPo exhaust system ordered from Accurate Exhaust. I couldn't say no to 20% off. :D
 
Missed delivery on my exhaust today. It's a bummer, but I won't have time to get to it until Saturday anyway.

Here's a few pics of the heater box. I cleaned and painted all the metal parts that seemed reasonable to attempt. I had a few different paint products laying around so it got a mix so I could see what I will want to use on higher visibility parts when I paint them later. I didn't do as great a job scrubbing the nooks and crannies of the box as other might have, but it's good enough for me. I'm also including some pics of the repairs I made to the box. The fresh air door was ripped off so I had to repair the area for attaching the rivets. I will probably see if I can remount with a couple of screws or bolts and washers. I found the fresh air door still attached to the hinge, but it is not moving at all. Hopefully a long soak in Penetrating Blaster will loosen it up. I made some jbweld repairs to a few clip attachment points as well. I'm still not settled about what to do with the passthrough area for the heater core pipes.

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I know you haven’t updated your thread in a long time but was wondering if you had clearer pics of your rear wheels and the wheelwell. Thinking about tires for my wagon and forgot I was watching it and found it in a search. Thanks!
Don
 
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mammlouk said:
Here's the better picture from yesterday morning. The wheels are 14x6 and I settled on 215/70 r14 hankook optimo tires. Well see how everything feels once I can drive it around a bit, but so far I'm happy with the way they fill out the wheel wells and give the wagon a bit more height.

I took out the gauge cluster so I could check the regulator and start getting it cleaned and ready for paint. What a giant pain in the rear.

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Great car! I also did a 270 wagon. I really enjoy it.
I bought my headliner on Ebay for usd225 I think. Then I ordered fabrics from SMS in Oregon and re-did front and rear seat. Now I'm waiting for the door panels
 
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